Well, I wasn’t dying, and I told myself that was all that mattered. I changed my clothes and pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was smashed. I tossed the pieces on my nightstand. So much for calling my friends. I’d have to go see them in person.
I didn’t know how long I’d been gone. Maybe a day, maybe longer. I couldn’t imagine how worried Hayley was. I teleported just outside her house and rang the bell. I didn’t know what I’d say to explain the bruises if one of her parents answered.
Footsteps pounded down the stairs and Hayley yanked open the door. “Oh my God, what happened?” She threw her arms around me.
“Ow, ow.” I was healing fast, but it still hurt. She let me go with an apology. “I…” I didn’t know how to start.
“Is that Alex?” Casey called from somewhere inside. A burst of running footsteps and he appeared behind his sister. “Holy shit, are you okay?”
“Can we go somewhere?” I didn’t want their parents to overhear. “My place?” I wanted the familiarity.
“Sure. I’ll leave my parents a note,” Casey said.
I teleported them to my apartment. I sank into the couch without a word and Hayley and Casey sat next to me. Studying my face, Hayley took my hand. I slumped against her shoulder and burst into tears.
In a choked voice, I told them everything. Hayley cried with me, and when I got to the part about Mew-Mew dying, Casey started crying too. After I finished my story, they stayed with me for hours. We ordered a bunch of pizza and I ate a ton. It had been at least a day since I’d eaten and as wrung out as I was, I was still starving.
Being with them helped so much. I’d killed the devil and taken over his job. Almost anyone else would’ve been terrified of me, but they weren’t. They were worried for me and did everything they could to comfort me. There weren’t enough words to tell them how much that meant. It helped me believe part of me was still human.
It was getting dark when they left. “Do you want me to stay?” Hayley asked. It would get her in trouble with her parents, but it was clear she didn’t care.
“No, it’s okay.” I didn’t want her to get in trouble, and as much as I’d needed their support, I also needed to be alone.
She kissed me and Casey didn’t even make a face.
When they were gone I went to my bedroom and picked Animus up off the bed. “Just you and me now, girl.” A fresh wave of grief hit me and I lay down, cradling my sword. Mew-Mew had been my best friend, for years my only friend. I’d brought him back to life once, but this time there was nothing I could do. He was gone, really gone.
I cried so hard it hurt, sobs shaking my body. Animus radiated warmth like she was trying to comfort me. I cried until my throat was raw, until I had no tears left. I wiped my face with a corner of the covers and closed my eyes, wondering if I’d be able to sleep.
A familiar weight landed on the bed. I sat up in shock. “Mew-Mew?”
He stood at the end of the bed, looking just like he had in life, except for a slight glow around his body. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
I laughed and pulled him into a hug. “I missed you so much. I thought you were gone forever.”
How long have you been seeing ghosts?
Pretty much forever, I told him, feeling stupid. But not everyone becomes a ghost.
He rubbed against my face. I couldn’t move on and leave you behind.
I kissed his nose. I love you, Mew-Mew.
I love you, Alex.
I fell asleep with my sword under my pillow and my ghost cat curled up next to me.
***
The ashes were still where I’d left them. I stepped around them and walked up to the throne. The black key was heavy in my hand. I gave it a long look before slipping it into my pocket. As much as I didn’t want this, I had to take responsibility. I went up the stairs and sat in the huge white throne. Mew-Mew hopped up on my lap.
In the shadows behind the columns, demons murmured, their eyes glowing. I waited for them to creep out, some of them glaring, some curious.
“Well, I’m in charge now. So there’s gonna be some changes around here.”
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LORD OF HELL
The Final Book in the Alex Holden Trilogy
Coming Soon!
As soon as I announced I was taking over Hell, demons started challenging me. I can’t really blame them. If I was a demon a few thousand years old and some seventeen year old demigod was telling me what to do, I wouldn’t take it well, either.
And to be honest, part of me liked the chance to fight. Beelzebub was one such pissed off demon. He’d seen me kick two other demons’ asses, but that didn’t matter to him. He was wearing something close to a human shape so he could hold his sword. “Surrender the throne and I will let you slink back to your beloved Earth.”
“And you’ll just leave Earth alone? You’ll keep all the demons from hurting humans?” I asked, gripping my sword handle. We stood in the bright white throne room. It was like a hospital crossed with a Greek temple, all smooth clean marble.
“I will stay away from you and yours. This I promise.” I chose not to point out how much a promise from a demon was worth. “All of Earth is mine. The world is under my protection.” As I’d proved when I saved it.
Beelzebub laughed. “You have Satan’s ambition, if not his vision.”
“How about I give you an offer? You give up now, walk away, and I won’t make an example of you.” The throne room was full of demons, lurking in the shadows behind the enormous columns. These fights always drew a crowd. The other two demons I’d fought hadn’t been as strong as Beelzebub. Maybe kicking his ass would convince the others not to fuck with me.
He narrowed his eyes. “His arrogance as well.” Then he charged me, sword straight out as if he expected to run me through.
Dumbass. As if he hadn’t watched me kill Satan. I dodged and brought up Animus. She sang, wanting to taste more demon blood. The sword got her wish, slicing along Beelzebub’s left arm.
The demon hissed and whirled, but I was just as fast. My sword met his, the clang ringing through the hall. He glared down at me, a good two feet taller. “You little whelp. I am going to flay you and feed you to the hellhounds.”
His size didn’t bother me. I’d fought bigger things. “Heard threats like that before. Not very original.” I tried to go for a quick kill, but he met my attack.
He growled and threw a fireball with his free hand. That I hadn’t been expecting. The other two demons seemed to have limited powers. Beelzebub might be a match for me after all.
I stumbled back and threw up a wall of fire. The fireball hissed when it met my flames and disappeared. I shoved the wall at the demon. Beelzebub jumped over it and I filled the floor below him with jagged spikes of ice.
He tried to change course, wings springing from his back, but he didn’t have time. He landed with a choked cry, ice piercing through both legs and his abdomen. Black demon blood leaked from the wounds. I backed away as he summoned fire to melt the ice.
Beelzebub tried to get to his feet, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate. “You fucking bastard! You human-loving piece of shit!”
I had a few seconds to consider what to do. Did I really need to keep him around? Was it worth the risk to let him live and have him resent me? I didn't want to keep worrying about him attacking me. The other two demons had just been opportunists, thinking I was an easy fight. I’d kicked their asses in a few minutes and they’d been properly cowed.
I didn’t think Beelzebub would make things that easy.
I charged and stamped on his sword as he tried to bring it up. Animus flared, red fire burning along her blade, and I sliced through the demon’s neck. Both head and body caught fire. I lifted Animus and faced the lurking demons. She was singing so
loud I was sure they could hear it. Some of Beelzebub’s blood hissed as it burned off the sword.
“Who’s next?”
Several demons stepped forward, but instead of challenging me, they dropped to their knees. Others slipped back into the shadows, glowing eyes winking out as they disappeared.
“I’m not weak. I’m half human, but that doesnvt mean any of you are stronger than me. I killed Satan, and if you try to fuck with me, I’ll kill you too. Just like him.” I pointed at Beelzebub, still burning on the floor. His body bubbled and crackled.
I watched him for a moment before heading back to the throne. Mew-Mew hopped from the seat up to the arm. Maybe they’ll leave you alone now, he said.
It’ll make them think twice, at least. For right now, I didn’t want to fight anymore, but I suspected in time I’d welcome another challenge. I wondered what it said about me that I liked violence this much.
I sat on the throne and looked around the huge, long room. It was bright and white, not at all what I expected the devil's throne room to look like. The huge columns on either side of the room cast deep shadows behind them. So dark the walls disappeared. The darkness acted as a doorway to the rest of Hell, allowing demons to come and go from all over. It was creepy, but I was starting to get used to it. Only a week had passed since I took over and so far I’d spent as little time down here as possible.
Much as I didn’t want to, I needed to see all of Hell and figure out what I was going to do. I’d already ordered all the demons to leave Earth alone. With Beelzebub turning to ash in front of me, now was probably a good time to make other changes.
“Astaroth, come here.” He was one of the kneeling demons, and one of the first I’d met after I took over. He was powerful, but didn’t seem interested in challenging me.
“Yes, my lord.” The demon approached and knelt at the foot of the throne.
“I want you to take me on a tour. I need to see everything in Hell.”
***
This is so depressing, Mew-Mew said from his perch on my shoulder.
I know. So far we’d seen vast areas where thousands of souls were being tortured. Murderers, rapists, pedophiles – the worst of humanity. I agreed they deserved to be punished, but it wasn’t fun seeing terrible things being done to terrible people.
We teleported to a new area, where souls were trapped in a vast gloomy swamp. They moaned and struggled, trying to get free, but the lower halves of their bodies were stuck. Not as bad as being endlessly burned or torn apart, but no fucking picnic, either.
“So what did they do?” I asked Astaroth. We stood on a high ledge overlooking the swamp, which stretched out forever. I saw a few demons, some with food, others with ropes, standing near the souls and taunting them, holding things just out of reach.
“This is the Swamp of Suicides.”
“What?” My head whipped around.
“They took their own lives, which is a sin.”
“Wait, hold the fuck up. All they did was kill themselves?” I expected them to have done something horrible.
He looked surprised. “Yes. It is a sin against God, so they are cast into Hell for eternity.”
“Well, fuck that.”
I’m going down there. Do you want to stay up here? I asked Mew-Mew.
I want to help. He hopped off my shoulder and grew to the size of a panther. Since becoming a ghost, he’d gained a few powers.
Let’s go. I hopped down into the slimy, cold muck. The demons stood on top of the water, so that had to mean I could, too. I focused for a moment and stepped up, the water now supporting me. Mew-Mew did the same. I made my way to the nearest soul, a pale man with sunken eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just want to die. Let me die,” he muttered.
Maybe that was part of the punishment, that he was stuck in that last moment of despair that made him end his life. “You are dead.” I told him. “This is Hell.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Take my hand.” I reached out.
He hesitated, then took it. His hand was cold. I pulled him out of the swamp and onto a drier patch of mossy grass. “I’m in Hell?” He shivered and hugged himself.
“Yeah. You killed yourself.”
He started to cry. “I just wanted it to end. I couldn’t take the pain anymore.”
I took his arm and looked straight into his eyes. “Your pain is over.” I was about to ask if he’d hurt anybody, just to make sure he really didn’t deserve to be here, but I saw it in his eyes. All the bad things he’d done, all the mistakes he’d made. It came in a rush that left me a little dizzy. But there was nothing there that made him deserve eternal torment. Just the normal mistakes anyone made in their life, hurting people’s feelings, guilt over cheating on a test, promising a loved one that he’d stop using drugs, but going right back to them.
He was just a depressed, damaged, lonely person and he didn’t deserve to be here.
Nearby, Mew-Mew was helping an older woman out. I looked out across the vast swamp. It stretched on farther than I could see. Pulling each person out would take forever. “There has to be a better way,” I muttered.
Astaroth flew down to land beside me. “What are you doing, my lord?”
“Did Satan create this swamp?” Someone had to, and if not him, it had to be Jehovah.
“Yes. Everything in Hell was created by him.”
“So maybe I can get rid of it.” I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the black key. Ever since Jehovah gave it to me, my powers had been much stronger. I hadn’t tested the limits of them yet. I closed my eyes and imagined the swamp draining, leaving the souls on dry land. Energy shifted in me and the ground… well, the water I was standing on… started to shake.
I opened my eyes and watched the swamp drain. Confused souls and demons looked around. The moaning turned to uncertain murmurs. “I’m getting rid of this swamp,” I said, my voice echoing across the area. I turned to Astaroth. “No more punishing suicides. Tell the demons to leave them alone.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Killing yourself is really fucking sad, but it’s not a sin. Not to me,” I told the confused, pale people as the water dropped below their knees. “Who else is down here?” I asked Astaroth. “What other stupid ‘sins’ land people in Hell?”
He started listing things, and I got more and more pissed off.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Anne Victory for being a great editor, Kanaxa for the awesome cover, and my beta readers: Ekaterina, Robyn, Karen, Becca, and Keith. You guys rock!
About The Author
Devin Harnois writes about the strange and fantastic, loves skulls, and lives in Minneapolis with a lazy cat and a wild imagination. Find Devin at:
Twitter: devinharnois
Blog: devinharnois.com
Email: [email protected]
SAINT OF SINNERS
Alex Holden: Book 2
Copyright © 2013 Devin Harnois
Cover design by Kanaxa
Edited by Anne Victory
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
LORD OF HELL
Acknowledgements
About The Author
SAINT OF SINNERS
Sinners
Saint of Sinners Page 18